Economics
Minor

Program Overview

The economics program area offers a minor in economics that allows students to go deeper in learning how to apply the basic concepts gained from taking the principles of macroeconomics and microeconomics. The economics minor provides a balance of theory and practice in order to increase students' ability to solve problems in their fields. The economics minor is offered primarily to the following categories of students: students from business and management fields in the College of Management, students from human services and public administration, and students from the liberal arts who desire to increase their knowledge of economics.

Declare Your Program

After you are admitted to the university as an undergraduate student, you also need to be accepted to a specific major/program.

Requirements

Courses required for your specific program are listed in the right column on this page. They include prerequisite, foundation, core and elective courses. Contact your advisor with questions concerning your degree plan.

Economics lab is offered twice a week during the fall and spring semesters and once a week during the summer. The lab is designed to assist students in ECON 201 Macroeconomics and ECON 202 Microeconomics classes and independent studies. Information on lab hours and locations is distributed at these classes and with independent study packets, and is available from the College of Management Web page.

How Admissions Works

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Prerequisites

Requirements (
20 total credits)

Economics Minor Required Courses

ECON 201 Macroeconomics

3 credits

This course focuses on the economy as a whole and studies how government can affect the economy. After starting with principles of markets, the price system and supply and demand, the course covers national income accounting, business cycles, inflation, unemployment, fiscal policy, monetary policy and the Federal Reserve System, different approaches to economic growth, and the foundations of international trade.

This course focuses on the interactions between the consumer and the producer. It begins with the theory of markets, supply and demand, and the price system. Then it covers demand elasticity, the costs of production including the various factor inputs, the four major market structures (pure competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly and monopoly), and ways to increase the competition in markets.

Economics Minor Elective Courses

(Choose three from the following list)

ECON 311 Economics of the Environment

4 credits

This course explores the economic aspects of environmental issues and regulations. Current incentives to degrade or preserve the environment are presented and the impact of present policies on those incentives are established. The tools of economic analysis are used to evaluate problems and suggest solutions.

This course assesses the role of labor as a production factor in the economy, as well as the factors affecting the supply of, and demand for, labor. Topics include: determinants of labor supply and demand; analysis of labor markets; theories of wages and employment; income and wage inequality among occupations, industries and regions; the role of labor unions and collective bargaining as they affect supply and demand conditions; and the relationships among wages, inflation, unemployment and government policies.

This course analyzes selected issues and problems in international trade and also studies how various countries approach basic economic policy questions. Topics include: the theory of comparative advantage, barriers to trade such as tariffs and quotas, exchange rates, balance of payments, organizations such as the International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organization, and an analysis of current issues in American trade policy. The course concludes with an analysis of the economic policies of major trading partners: Japan, China and the European Union with some attention to other capitalist and noncapitalist economies.

This course uses various techniques to examine issues and problems relevant to the themes of race, ethnicity, gender, preference and class. Topics include: how race, ethnicity and gender arise in economics and how they relate to the labor market; the impact of national economic policies on diverse groups; the economics of discrimination; and questions related to domestic partner issues.

This course applies microeconomics principles to the health care services field. The role of consumer choice and firm behavior are examined in the markets for health insurance and health care. An understanding of the role of public and private financing and delivery systems is developed. The tools and techniques of economics are employed to facilitate policy, analytic and management decisions in the health care field.

Topics covered in this course include: measuring economic performance; the determination of income and expenditures; the role of government in influencing general equilibrium and economic fluctuations; the development of stabilization policies; and the operations of financial markets. The analytical approaches are more advanced than those in ECON 201 Macroeconomics.

This course covers the analysis of consumption behavior and demand using the theory of utility and indifference, the theory of production and costs, and analysis of the firm and industries under the four market structures. Factor pricing and general equilibrium using comparative static analysis techniques are also covered. Selected topics include: market failure, price ceilings and floors under different market structures, subsidies, regulations, price discrimination, and consumer and producer surplus.

This course is designed for business and economics students interested in acquiring a broader view of the financial system and its markets. The material is divided into three sections: historical, theoretical and institutional. The historical section covers the evolution of money, money creation, inflation, the economy, and the development of banking. The theoretical part covers methods to trace the impact of money on the economy including classical, Keynesian, monetarist and rational expectation approaches. The institutional portion deals with financial intermediaries and financial instruments.

This course focuses on the application of economic analysis to enterprise decision making. The basic topics include analyses of demand, costs, capitalization and strategy. The purpose is to apply economics to achieve long-run profit maximization. Students apply principles of modern strategy to real case studies.

This course prepares students for the task of analyzing primary and secondary economic data in order to assist decision makers in profit, nonprofit and public organizations. It also provides an introduction to econometrics: regression models, serial correlation, forecasting, simultaneous equation estimation, model building, time series and simulations. Students work on a major project during the course.